You Asked! Here's What I Typically Eat In A Day

I get this question all the time. And I get it – as a Health Coach people are constantly looking to me to set a good example, and are curious.

Well, first of all, you may be surprised.

My diet is not perfect, not at all, but what’s most important is that it works for me, which is exactly what I teach my clients.

I get crazy cravings just like everyone else, I deal with the busyness of everyday life and try to find balance within the madness.

What I eat has shifted dramatically over the years, but what I have found is HOW I eat is just as important as WHAT I eat (we talk about this a lot in my Food Freedom Program!)

Tip – ask yourself who you are when you eat. Are you emotional? In front of the TV? Standing up? Trying to feed the kids? Stressed out? Knowing who you are when you eat can give you tremendous insight into your relationship with food.

Here are my daily food practices: 

• Food is no longer just something I do throughout the day, it is a sacred practice. Those two words have come to mean so much to me –

Sacred: I pay attention. I acknowledge the food, where it came from, who grew it, and the energy it’s about to give my body. This forces me to slow down. I no longer eat distracted. I recognize the importance of what I am putting in my body. I notice how it makes me feel and express gratitude.

Practice: I always say, just like anything you try to master in life – playing guitar, racing motorcycles, your job – your relationship with food also takes practice. You must experiment and try new things to understand what works best for your body.

When you eat, how you eat, where you eat, what you eat, why you eat – these are all things that take time to understand and get clear on. I give myself the grace of knowing that my relationship with food is a process.

• Over the years I have realized what I put into my body has a deep impact on how I live the rest of my life. A few poor food choices can really throw me off my game. I take this as a good thing – my body can no longer handle a lot of shitty food, thumbs up!

My relationship with food and body has been the catalyst for many other positive changes I have made in my life. When I feed my body like I love it and it is worthy and deserving of nourishing foods, it easily spills over into other areas of your life.

• I ask myself what I am hungry for. I eat when I am bored, anxious and stressed out. Before I go rummaging through the cupboards I ask myself, what am I really hungry for right now? Am I bored and need to find something fun to do? Am I feeling stressed and need to go for a walk? What’s going on, sister? 

This saves me from eating a lot of unneeded, extra calories. It also forces me to face whatever it is that I am dealing with, instead of eating over it.

• I splurge, and I remove the guilt. I like chocolate and candy and cookie dough just as much as anyone else does. So when I am really hankering for some Mexican food or frozen yogurt, I go for it. Because the denial and restriction of the treats I love doesn’t work for me.

Take my advice – save the guilt for a time when you really fuck up – not when you eat something you truly enjoy. 

So here’s what I typically eat in a day (sorry – no fancy pictures of layered overflowing smoothies or lush salads here):

80% of what I eat is local and organic. This is especially important with produce. I also live by the 80/20 rule, which allows me the freedom to indulge in all my faves!

Breakfast:

I never used to eat breakfast because I would get hungry for lunch way earlier in the day, and when you struggled with controlling your appetite and restriction, hunger was a constant battle. But now I can’t live without it! It’s made such a difference in my life and body energetically and mentally. It’s awesome.

• I always start my morning with warm lemon water. It helps wake my body up, gets my digestion moving and just flat out makes me feel good.

Then I brew up some coffee and get to work. I will have 1-2 cups of coffee a day, my only downfall – I love fake creamer!

I typically eat within 2 hours of waking up, and this is what I go for:

• Greek yogurt with granola, chia seeds, dried cranberries and a piece of fruit, or
• I will make a simple smoothie – lots of frozen berries, banana, chia or flax seed, almond milk and greek yogurt.
• I will also sometimes have a hard boiled egg.

Lunch: 

• I am totally hooked on braising greens right now that I have been getting from my local farm Wild Hare. I sauté those up with garlic, olive or coconut oil, salt and pepper – easy breezy. Or,
• I’ll make a salad (sometimes packaged depending on how busy I am! I love the Taylor Farms kale chopped salad). I’ll use a little olive oil and balsamic for dressing. Or,
• I’ll bake a sweet potato with cottage cheese and salsa or grainy mustard with a little parmesan or feta.

Afternoon snack: 

Apple, kiwi, banana, nuts, hard-boiled egg, avocado, veggies with hummus, big glass of green juice (Suja is my favorite) Lara bar, nothing fancy. And it varies.

Dinner: 

If I cook it’s typically easy, simple, clean, nutritious. If my husband cooks, it take hours, he uses unique spices, it’s decadent and almost always interesting and something we’ve never had before. I’d like to think I’ve taught him well  Ok, probably not. He loves to cook! So our dinner menu varies tremendously.

For instance, last week Kyle made duck sliders and I made baked chicken and veggies.

The week before Kyle made slow roast with veggies and I made mushroom lettuce wraps and asparagus.

These days I also try to stay away from pasta and sub quinoa, which I’ve found is a good alternative and helps with my ravenous pasta cravings 

Here are a few of the standards:

• Protein – wild Alaskan salmon, shrimp, organic chicken, organic ground turkey, sometimes tofu but it tends to give me a belly ache
• Veggies – any and all! I’m obsessed. My faves are broccoli, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, sweet potato, parsnips, beets, mushrooms, zucchini, cauliflower, kale, arugula, peas and seaweed.
• Big ol’ salad with lots of carrots, broccoli, peas, green onion, avocado.
• Cottage cheese

Treats: 

I work really hard to not over-indulge in candy or sweets. Sugar is a tough one for me, but I think I’ve found a pretty healthy balance between not completely denying myself treats and overindulging. This has been quite the practice since I was a little kid.

• All natural popsicles
• Frozen yogurt
• Ferrara Rocher truffles – these are good for me because I can typically just have one and be satisfied.
• Sour Patch Kids – I know, I know! NOT the best choice. But they’ve been my fave for ages, and I don’t eat them everyday.

So there you have it, a view into the food-life of an imperfect Health Coach.

I don’t claim to be the healthiest coach out there. I don’t eat tree bark and don’t expect my clients to either. I aim for realistic and sustainable. 

I know where I can improve and as time goes on and I feel ready, I will shift and change and refine. Practice, practice, practice.

I’d love to hear, was this what you expected I’d eat?